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Satmar (or '''Satmar Hasidism''' or '''Satmarer Hasidim''') (חסידות סאטמער) is a movement of Orthodox Haredi Jew s who adhere to Hasidism originating in the Hungarian town of Satu Mare (''Szatmárnémeti''), originally part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and presently located in Romania . Members are referred to as ''Satmarer Hasidim''. The largest part of the community lives in Williamsburg, Brooklyn , followed by Kiryas Joel, New York , Monsey, New York , and Boro Park, Brooklyn , and in other Haredi centers in North America, Europe, Israel and Argentina. The Satmar Rebbe, by tradition, is accepted by Jerusalem 's Edah Charedis (a large group among the non-Zionist Haredi population) as its presiding rabbi, though none of the past rebbes have lived permanently in Jerusalem. However, in wake of the present situation, this is no longer the case. Satmar in a broad sense is one of the largest Hasidic dynasty in existence today, but formal demographic comparisons with other Hasidim are not available. It is believed, however, to number close to 120,000 {Link without Title} adherents if one includes a number of smaller and related anti-Zionist Hungarian Hasidic groups who allign themselves with Satmar. NAME Some are under the impression that the name of the town from which Satmar took its name, Satu Mare , means "Saint Mary". Some therefore call the town "Sakmer" so as not to use its non-Jewish name. This, however, is a Folk Etymology . "Satu Mare" in fact means "large village," with the Romanian ''Satu'' ("village") deriving from the Latin ''fossatum'', while ''Mare'' means "large" in Romanian. OUTLINE OF SATMAR'S HASIDIC RABBINICAL LINEAGE
There were also several Teitelbaum in-laws who amassed small followings. Rabbi Yoel had a daughter named Chaya Roize "Roizeleh" who died during his lifetime. His son-in-law and nephew, Rabbi Lipa Meir Teitelbaum, (d. 1966), was called the Grand Rebbe of Sassov . He remarried and had two sons, the current Rebbes of Sassov, one who has a community in Israel called Kiryat Yismach Moshe, and one in Monsey. In additon, the Muzhayer Rebbe of Flatbush, another nephew of Rabbi Yoel, was also in the running to replace Rebbe Joel of Satmar upon his death. Ultimately, however, Rebbe Moshe became the recognized dynastic sucessor. ''(see also: Bnei Yoel , a group of Satmar Hasidim that did not accept Rebbe Moshe as Rebbe and remained loyal to Rebbe Yoel's Wife, the Rebbitzen Alta Fayga Teitelbaum.)'' SATMAR HISTORY Background to the dynasty The dynasty traces its roots to Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum ( 1759 - 1841 ), Rebbe of Sátoraljaújhely (Ujhel), Hungary . Himself an adherent of the Polish Hasidic leader Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak Of Lublin (the ''Chozeh'' of Lublin), Rabbi Teitelbaum was instrumental in bringing Hasidic Judaism to Hungary. He authored the works ''Heishiv Moshe'' ("Moses Responded") and ''Yismach Moshe'' ("Moses Shall Rejoice"), and is commonly called by the title of the latter work. His descendants became leaders of the communities of Sighetu Marmaţiei (Sighet) and Satu Mare. He was succeeded by his son, Rabbi Eleazar Nissan Teitelbaum of Drobitsch, who was succeeded by his son, Rabbi Yekusiel Yehudah Teitelbaum of Sighet, author of ''Yetev Lev''. Rabbi Chananyah Yom Tov Lipa Teitelbaum, author of ''Kedushas Yom Tov'', was Rebbe in the town of Sighet. He was the son of the author of ''Yetev Lev''. He had two sons: Rabbi Chaim Tzvi Teitelbaum and Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum. The oldest son, Chaim Tzvi, author of ''Atzei Chaim'', succeeded his father as Rebbe of Sighet. The younger, Joel, was Rabbi in a town called Urshevve ( Irshava ) Ukraine and after in a city called Kruly (Nagy Karoly) Romania , and later moved to Satu Mare where he became rabbi and formed the community of Satmar. He authored Responsa and Jewish Novellae under the title ''Divrei Yoel'' ("The Words of Joel") and polemics (mainly against Political Zionism ) in ''VaYoel Moshe'' ("And Moses Swore") and ''Al HaGeulah Ve'Al HaTemura'' ("Concerning Emancipation and its Exchange"). Many of his sermons were printed under the title ''Chiddushei Torah: MaHaR"Y T"B''. Many Satmar Hasidim were murdered and dispersed during World War II and The Holocaust . In 1944 , Joel Teitelbaum was one of a small group of people whose release from Hungary was ironically negotiated with Adolf Eichmann by the Zionist leader Rudolf Kasztner who was authorized to select a small number of prominent rabbis together with a larger group of young Zionists who were to be released by the Nazis. He was a passenger on the Katszner Train bound for Switzerland, which was re-routed to Bergen-Belsen. The day that Teitelbaum was saved from the Nazi inferno, which is on the 21st day of the month of Kislev on the Hebrew Calendar , is celebrated to this day as a time of immense joy among Satmar Hasidim. After the war, Teitelbaum spent time in the Displaced Persons Camp of Feldafing , the first camp exclusively for Jewish ex-prisoners, where he offered support and encouragement to the many orphaned young people who survived the Holocaust. After World War II After leaving the camps, Teitelbaum emigrated to the British Mandate Of Palestine , where he founded a network of yeshivas in a number of cities. However he soon came into financial difficulties and subsequently left for New York City to raise money for his growing institutions. After living in New York for a year, his American followers convinced him to stay, largely due to political changes occurring in the Holy Land concerning the founding of the state of Israel . After the death of Rabbi Zelig Reuven Bengis, Teitelbaum became the fourth Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem's anti-Zionist Eda Haredit community, however he remained in New York, giving input and guidance to his followers and colleagues in Israel through personal communications and his advisers. In New York Teitelbaum established the foundations of a community in Williamsburg, Brooklyn , beginning in the early 1950's. Teitelbaum's efforts to rebuild the movement also resulted in the acquisition of land in upstate New York during the 1970's, which was named Kiryas Joel . Other Satmar communities sprang up in London , Manchester , Buenos Aires , Antwerp , Bnei Brak , and Jerusalem , where they continue to have a very strong presence in the Eda Haredit. Teitelbaum was not survived by any children (his three daughters died in his lifetime). He was succeeded by his nephew, Rabbi cemetery. A small group of Bnei Yoel members protested the burial of Rabbi Moshe in the same mausoleum as Rabbi Joel. SATMAR AND POLITICS The Satmar Hasidic movement has become known for its social isolation from all forms of secular culture and for its opposition to all forms of Religious , secular, and political Zionism . Satmar Hasidim will not approach the Western Wall of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, feeling it has been befouled by secular interests and those professing Zionism, which they see as an abomination. Satmar Hasidim also refuse to take any benefits from the Israeli government, and often view other Haredi groups that do with hostility. Some of Satmar's more conservative and isolationist tendencies have resulted in long-standing feuds and enmities with other Haredi groups and Hasidic sects, particularly Chabad-Lubavitch and Belz , in part because of the different groups' positions towards Zionism, the State of Israel, and what involvement and relationships with the Israeli government are appropriate. Some of these disputes can be originally traced to specific conflicts between small groups of individuals in New York and Israel that later developed into larger ones between the respective communities. Satmar opposition to Zionism The Satmar's vehement position against Zionism was refined and officially formulated by Joel Teitelbaum, though it did not originate with him. Before World War II most Hasidic rabbis, as well as many other prominent Orthodox leaders (including Joel's father, Chananyah Yom Tov Lipa), believed that God had promised to return the Jew ish people to the Land Of Israel by means of the actions of the Jewish Messiah who would be sent by God, and that any activity on behalf of the Jews themselves to create or instigate this redemption would be punished. Instead of accepting benefits from the State of Israel, Rabbi Joel instead encouraged his followers to form self-sufficient communities in the Holy Land. Teitelbaum recorded a wide scope of his views on Zionism in his scholarly work ''Vayoel Moshe'', published in 1958. One of the core citations from classical Judaic sources cited by Teitelbaum for his opposition to modern Zionism was that of the ''three oaths''. This important teaching is from the Talmud in tractate ''Ketubot'' 111a, which discusses a passage from the Song Of Songs in the Tanakh ( Hebrew Bible ) in which God made the Israelites promise "to wait for Him before arousing his love": :" King Solomon in Song of Songs thrice adjured the 'daughters of Jerusalem ' not to arouse or bestir the love until it is ready.' The Talmud explains that we are bound by three strong Oath s ''not to ascend to the Holy Land as a group using force, not to rebel against the governments of countries in which we live, and not by our sins, to prolong the coming of Moshiach ''; as is written in Tractate Kesubos 111a ." {Link without Title} A variant interpretation of the three oaths has the third oath being that God would not allow the non-Jewish world to "excessively" persecute the Jews. In ''VaYoel Moshe'' Teitelbaum explicitly declared that the Zionists violated the three oaths, and thereby caused the Holocaust, as well as all violence in modern Israel, as a result: ''"...it has been these Zionist groups that have attracted the Jewish people and have violated the Oath against establishing a Jewish entity before the arrival of the Messiah. It is because of the Zionists that six million Jews were killed."''[http://www.jewsagainstzionism.com/rabbi_quotes/vayoelmoshe1.cfm#6Million In keeping with the three oaths, the Satmar were strongly opposed to the creation of modern Israel through violence and antagonism against Gentile nations such as Britain and the Ottoman Empire . In the years following the Holocaust, Teitelbaum undertook to maintain and strengthen this position, as did many other Torah Jews and communities. Teitelbaum declared that the State of Israel was a violation of Jewish teachings. This was both because of the Zionists' violation of the traditional belief that Jews must wait for the Messiah to re-create Israel, and also because its founders included many personalities who were both hostile to Orthodox Judaism, or simply indifferent to it. Teitelbaum believed the creation of the State of Israel, against the oaths described in Ketubot, constituted a form of impatience. In keeping with the Talmud's warnings that impatience for God's love and redemption can lead to grave danger, the Satmar Hasidim have often interpreted the Wars And Terrorism In Israel as fulfilment of that prophecy. Teitelbaum saw his opposition to Zionism as a way of protecting Jewish lives and preventing bloodshed. Most Haredi rabbis may agree with this idea, however the general view of Agudath Israel is that, despite this, for all practical purposes, efforts can be made to prevent Israel from becoming even more anti-religious through participating in the Israeli government, seen by Agudah as a form of "damage-control". Teitelbaum however, felt that any participation in the Israeli government, even voting in elections, was a grave sin, because it contributed to the spiritual and physical destruction of innocent people. Thus, he was officially opposed to the views of Agudath Israel, and the Satmar movement continues to refuse membership in the Agudath Israel organization or party. The Satmar view is that only the Jewish Messiah can bring about a new Jewish government in the Holy Land , and even if a government declaring itself religious would be formed before the Messiah, it would be illegitimate due to its improper arrogation of power, and it could still pose a danger to Jewish life. While the Satmar Hasidim are opposed to the present secular government of Israel, many of them live in and visit Israel (as Teitelbaum did, many times). They see opposition to Zionism as an expression of love to the Holy Land, protecting it from the defilement of bloodshed and war. Satmar and Neturei Karta The Satmar Hasidim's opposition to Zionism has at times led to comparisons and confusion with the small and controversial Haredi activist group known as Neturei Karta . While there are ideological similarities between the two groups, they have significantly different historical backgrounds. Satmar's views, as formulated and espoused by Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum, were essentially continuations of earlier dynastical teachings about Judaism and the modern world, and are presently maintained by later generations of the Teitelbaum family; keeping the movement's ideology directly in sync with the dynastic hierarchy. By contrast, Neturei Karta, formally created in 1935 , was the result of several small and partially Ad-hoc coalitions between various groups of marginalized Anti-Zionist Haredi Jews living in Palestine in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. {Link without Title} While Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum originally supported Neturei Karta's activities in the 1940s and 50s, as lead by the late Rabbi Amram Blau, this alliance seems to have long since been annulled. While some members of Neturei Karta may also claim to be Satmar Hasidim (or profess loyalty to Satmar and its ideals), Satmar is not affiliated with Neturei Karta, and, unlike the latter, does not support the PLO . When the Satmar Rebbe was asked in the early 1970s if he would meet with PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat he said, "I do not meet with murderers". Satmar joined many other Hasidic courts in strongly condemning Neturei Karta in April 2002 , and again in November 2004 , following a large prayer vigil held by the group for Yasser Arafat. SATMAR INSTITUTIONS Charitable institutions The Satmar Hassidic movement is famous for its many charitable organizations, which were founded by Joel Teitelbaum and his wife, Alte Feiga Teitelbaum. The Satmar ''Bikur Cholim'' ("visiting the sick"), founded in 1957 by Alte Feiga, the Satmar Rebbetzin , is highly respected for helping Jewish people, regardless of affiliation, when they are ill in a hospital, taking care of their needs, such as kosher food and other accommodations, both religious and general, as well as the needs of their families who visit them. ''Rav Tuv'' is a charitable organization to help Jewish refugees from over the world, originally founded by Teitelbaum in the 1950's to help Jews in the Soviet Union. Today, the organization mostly helps Jews from Iran and Yemen , however many Russian and South American Jews are also helped. ''Keren Hatzalah'' is a charitable fund to support Yeshiva s and the poor in the Holy Land, founded by Teitelbaum shortly before his passing. Educational institutions Joel Teitelbaum founded a network of large educational institutions, both Yeshiva s and girl's schools, and If the Satmar schools in New York were a public school system, it would be the fourth-largest system in New York state, after those of New York City, Buffalo and Rochester. {Link without Title} In most places the girl's schools are called ''Beth Rachel'' and the yeshivas ''Torah VeYirah''. Rabbinical Organizations In 1948, Joel Teitelbaum founded a major rabbinical association known as the ''Hisachdus HaRabanim D'ARHA"B V'Canada'' or the Central Rabbinical Congress Of The United States And Canada (CRC). Among their many works are various rabbinical services, including '' Kashruth '' supervision. SATMAR SUCCESSION FEUD Two of Rabbi , and the third-oldest, Zalman Leib Teitelbaum . The brothers and their followers have been jostling for power since 1999. Rabbi Moshe died April 24, 2006. Both sides have already been coronated as the new Grand Rebbe by their followers. There is talk of Rabbi Chaim Joshua Halberstam also being coronated by a small group of his own followers as Satmar-Bobov Rebbe of Monsey. {Link without Title} {Link without Title} {Link without Title} Death of Moshe Teitelbaum Following the previous rebbe's death in April 2006, both groups of followers announced that their favorite was (or would be) named Moshe's successor in his will. Initially Aaron's supporters claimed that they had a verbal will, dating in 1996, in which the rebbe is puported to have passed the leadership to Aaron, This was first announced by Rabbi Hertzke Zweibel, Rosh Kollel of Satmar Kollel on Keap street in Williamsburg, who claimed that the rebbe had confered the will upon him as a witness. Rabbi Zweibel read this will at a large public gathering of Rabbi Aaron's supporters in Williamsburg, and was later announced by Rabbi Yisroel Chaim Horowitz Rabbi of Satmar Cong. in Manchester England who also claims that the rabbi confered the will to him on a seperate occasion in 1997. However, a public reading of a later version of the will stated that Rabbi Moshe had chosen Rabbi Zalman to succeed him. Rabbi Aaron's supporters responded by claiming that the Rebbe might have been suffering from the effects of Alzheimer's Disease when he signed it. Furthermore, the 1996 version of the will states that all future versions of a will should be considered nullified, because Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum (then eighty years old) was of the opinion that someone over eighty years of age is no longer fit to change his will, according to the rabbi's interpretation of Jewish law. {Link without Title} The newer, printed will, signed by the rebbe and dated 2002, was read at the coronation ceremony for Rabbi Zalman in the Rebbe's house in Williamsburg on the afternoon of April 25. Zalman was given further support by the Satmar Beit Din , or Rabbinical court, in Williamsburg, which agreed with his reading of the will, and named him the legitimate successor. [http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/412129p-348555c.html , Zalman's critics have pointed out that the Beit Din in Williamsburg is firmly in Zalman's camp, so the ruling is neither surprising nor necessarily seen as authoritative by all Satmar Hasidim. [http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/newscontent.php3?artid=12380 Aaron and his followers remained defiant following Zalman's coronation, declaring that "The Grand Rebbe's will does not determine succession. Only the Satmar Board of Directors can make that decision. That's how the Grand Rebbe himself was selected. And that's how his successor will be selected." Both sides have announced that they will be filing further litigation in the New York State Supreme Court . [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/25/nyregion/25cnd-rabbi.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1145991724-sW8+XFH+0+2r9cXno4a0Xw&oref=slogin Regardless of any decisions, it seems that the followers of both Rabbis will each accept their leader to be the new Grand Rebbe of their respective congregations. However, one of them may take a new name. Rabbi Aaron spent the first Sabbath after his father's death in Williamsburg, setting up a tent in the playground of a local public school. Some analysts have hypothesized that this could indicate that Aaron has plans to spend more time in Williamsburg to exert further pressure on his brother and gain more followers from among Zalman's power base. Others characterized the decision by both brothers as a "showdown" meant to demonstrate their relative strength, particularly Aaron, by coming out in force in his brother's territory with followers from both Kiryat Joel and Williamsburg. [http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/65307.htm Others, however, downplayed the event, saying that Aaron had already planned to be in Williamsburg before his father's death to celebrate the birth of his first great-grandchild. Both groups held separate Sabbath services three blocks apart, and the day passed without incident. {Link without Title} Background to the present conflict There are conflicting reports about how the disagreement first started. Zalman's supporters say that Aaron's leadership-style in Kiryas Joel , described as "totalitarian", made him a significant number of enemies. Additionally, his behavior on visits to the Satmar's major enclave in Williamsburg was seen by some in the community as arrogant and presumptuous. Many have specifically cited the perceived disrespect by Aaron towards his father's personal assistant and Gabbai , Rabbi Moses Friedman, as having begun the conflict. {Link without Title} Aaron's supporters deny that Rabbi Aaron’s leadership style is at all different from his brother's or father's. They also claim that Friedman has become increasingly powerful due to the rebbe's illnesses and saw Aaron as a threat. Aaron's followers believe that Friedman supported Zalman in order to embarrass Aaron and threaten his support in Williamsburg, and is largely motivated by his own self-interest. The disagreement became public following Zalman's appointment to the Satmar congregation in Williamsburg in 1999 , seen by many as an indicator that he could potentially be chosen as his father's successor, not Aaron, who was the assumed successor until that point because he is the eldest son. Since then, there have been a number of public and occasionally violent confrontations between the two brothers and their supporters, generally occurring in Williamsburg. There have also been very publicized disputes in rival Satmar newspapers, as well as some Satmar websites. Additionally, there are a number of court battles going on between the two brothers (and their followers) as they struggle for control of the movement. Several of the court cases pertain to Satmar property, while others involved legal guardianship of the now-deceased rebbe. (The ones involving guardianship of the rebbe are now moot.) [http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2005/09/22/moses22.htm The Satmar conflict has been a hot-button news topic in the Haredi world, in part due to its longevity. There have been several incidences of rabbis and rebbes publicly taking sides, and urging their followers to follow suit. At least six other prominent Teitelbaum relatives have aligned themselves with one of the brothers. Moshe had generally refrained from making comments regarding which son could be his eventual successor, although occasional minor statements or actions of his were often analyzed with great scrutiny by those interested in the succession battle as possible indications of preference. [http://hasidicnews.com/News/News10.htm , [http://hasidicnews.com/News/News11.htm] Comparisons to earlier conflicts The conflict between Rabbis Aaron and Zalman Teitelbaum is in some ways comparable to the longstanding disagreement between the two rebbes of Vizhnitz , as well as Toldos Aharon (this is somewhat debatable, as the present nature of the two brothers' relationship is unclear). The conflict is becoming increasingly similar to the ongoing dispute in the Bobov Community . Historical context of Hasidic schisms Schisms in the Hasidic dynastic succession are not a recent development, although there has been a growing number of them in the past ten to fifteen years as many of the previous pre-war or immediately post-war generations, particularly leaders, have died. It is customary for Hasidim to have many children, of course, and the issue is also complicated by the tendency among Hasidic leaders who lost families to remarry and start new ones. All of this has helped create an atmosphere where younger siblings (or sons-in-law) feel more confident about making moves for leadership, as there is a greater possibility that they will be accepted by their community (or sizeable segements of it), compared to earlier periods when the majority might have followed the oldest son simply out of tradition. This can also be linked to a growing tendency of some Hasidic groups, such as Vizhnitz , Biala , Rachmastrivka , and Spinka to divide their territories and followers between relatives, in part in order to lower friction, particularly when they are significantly separated by geography. HASIDIC LITERATURE OF IMPORTANCE TO SATMAR In addition to those books revered by all Hasidim, the main Hasidic books revered by the Satmar sect are ''Yismach Moshe'', ''Yetev Lev'', ''Kedushas Yom Tov'', ''Divrei Yoel'', ''Chiddushei Torah Maharit"b'', ''Vayoel Moshe'', ''Al HaGeulah V'Al HaTemurah'', and ''Berach Moshe''. Rabbi Yoel was careful not to be particular about which books his Hasidim should study because he did not want to exclude any Hasidic teachings, for he felt that all Hasidic books should be studied, often encouraging his students to study ''Beer Mayim Chaim'', ''Kedushas Levi'', ''Bnei Yissaschar'', ''Noam Elimelech'', '' Tanya '', ''Likutei Moharan'' and other works, never specifying one over the other. However, based on the teachings of Rabbi Chaim Of Sanz , Rabbi Teitelbaum taught that the true way of the Baal Shem Tov has been forgotten. In addition to Hasidic teachings, the teachings of the ''Chasam Sofer'' are also greatly revered in Satmar. SEE ALSO
EXTERNAL LINKS AND SOURCES
Conflicts between Teitelbaum brothers
Satmar and Zionism
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